Arsenal picked up a 3-0 win over Bournemouth this afternoon, and the game was filled with controversial refereeing decisions.
The Gunners went into the game at the Emirates Stadium as the favourites and started brilliantly. We could’ve easily scored six in the first half.
However, we only found the net once before the break and that was through Bukayo Saka following a debatable penalty decision.
Leandro Trossard and Declan Rice scored a goal each in the second half, and that was enough for us to win the game and go four points clear at the top of the Premier League table, temporarily at least.
One of the biggest talking points from the game involved Ryan Christie’s terrible tackle on Bukayo Saka.
Why Ryan Christie wasn’t given a red card despite reckless challenge on Bukayo Saka
Arsenal were all over Bournemouth in the first half. We dominated the ball from the start and they just couldn’t get near us.
Martin Odegaard, as he usually does, was pulling the strings in midfield, and our forward players, especially Bukayo Saka and Kai Havertz, caused the Cherries all sorts of problems.
Arsenal should’ve scored a lot earlier than they did, but Bournemouth blocked a number of shots and stayed in the game.
Andoni Iraola’s side deserve praise for their defending, but they will have to admit that they got lucky when the referee and the VAR both ignored Ryan Christie’s challenge on Saka.
The Scot caught Saka on the knee with his studs up. The Arsenal number seven went down in pain and footage a few minutes later showed that he was bleeding.
Almost everyone who saw that has since been adamant that it was a straight red card for Christie. However, the referee and the VAR looked the other way.
Now, it has been revealed why the people at Stockley Park decided not give the Bournemouth player his marching orders.
The Athletic’s James McNicholas, popularly known as Gunnerblog, revealed on X that the VAR agreed the challenge was reckless, but they felt it wasn’t dangerous enough to show him a red card.
That is just ridiculous, isn’t it?
McNicholas wrote on X: “Ryan Christie’s tackle on Bukayo Saka was checked and cleared by VAR. Challenge was deemed reckless but not dangerous and therefore not a red card.”
Arsenal fans react to VAR’s terrible decision
Calling a challenge reckless but not dangerous even after it has left the player on the end of it bleeding on the floor is just ridiculous.
Ryan Christie was a lucky boy to stay on the pitch, and he probably knows it too.
Arsenal fans, as you would expect, were absolutely furious with the decision, and VAR’s reason for not sending him off has infuriated Gooners even more.
“Dangerous enough to cut Saka’s leg open but not dangerous enough to be dangerous,” wrote one frustrated fan.
Another tweeted: “How many Arsenal players have seen red in recent seasons for less dangerous tackles? A half-dozen at least.”
“That’s ridiculous. It’s both,” said another.